Coffee question

[dcyrilc]

We have a french press we keep in the motorhome for when we're camping. Works well for that as it doesn't require power and is easy to clean. At home, I go down to the coffee shop to get a cup, visit with the girls, and watch the morning news before work.

 

[Chuck52]

Wine snobs, beer snobs, now coffee snobs. I drink a lot of coffee, and it seems to me that the main thing is freshness. I'm not about to roast my own, and the local places that do are fairly proud of their product. Some are justified. However, I can buy a brand of bulk whole bean, called Biffs (out of Jacksonville, apparently) at my local discount grocery for $6.99/lb. At that price, it turns over rapidly. The beans are always nice and oily looking. I grind enough for a couple of days at a time for use in a French press. I make it at about coffee shop strength and it is never bitter. I have no idea if the Columbian is 100% Columbian, and I don't find it all that much different from the House and Breakfast blends. They all come out good to my taste. I do have a friend who makes coffee at work and is into different blends. I can taste the difference, but again, if the beans are fresh and the roast is to my liking, the coffee is good. I do prefer the press to a drip, and I don't even mind the grounds at the bottom of the pot!

Chuck

 

[SPIKER]

Come over to my place and I might treat you to a cup of Kopi Luwak coffee. It's the world's most rare and expensive coffee at $400 a pound. The USA allotment is 50 pounds per year.

Is that the stuff that was in the movie "Bucket List" with Jack Nickelson drinking it? until he was told he was drinking "$H@T" that came out of / from force fed cats?

lol

I like coffee of just about any kind as long as it is not burnt or over powering. hate "crap-o-chino" and the fancy french press stuff usually just tastes black & burnt to me...

Mark

 

[tallyho8]

Coffee with chicory (aka New Orleans Blend) has always been the top selling blend in Southeast Louisiana. Many different companies make it and French Market Coffee is my usual brand.

With the advent of Starbucks and other large national franchises, less people are drinking coffee with chicory than before but it will still be a standard in New Orleans for years to come.

 

[RobertN]

I like Mocha's; make one every morning at home. But, that is because I am a chocoholic. The espresso is just a side benefit. Not big on the rest of the fancy coffee though.

I have and use a small French press. If the coffee from one tastes black and burnt, it is the type of roast and volume of ground coffee used. You could use Maxwell House in one, or any of the vast varieties of other beans and roasts.

I like coffee of just about any kind as long as it is not burnt or over powering. hate "crap-o-chino" and the fancy french press stuff usually just tastes black & burnt to me...

Mark

 

[bp fick]

Coffee with chicory (aka New Orleans Blend) has always been the top selling blend in Southeast Louisiana. Many different companies make it and French Market Coffee is my usual brand.

With the advent of Starbucks and other large national franchises, less people are drinking coffee with chicory than before but it will still be a standard in New Orleans for years to come.

French Market, CDM, Louisianne, Union....Ah.... I can smell the coffee roasting, early in the morning near the Industrial Canal. But, what's a coffee without a beignet. And don't scrimp on the powered sugar.

 

[czechsonofagun]

I have this machine right side coffee, left side presso. I used it for 4 years, never touched the left side till the percolator stopped working. I took it apart and behind the cover "No customer serviceable parts" was a small ball valve in a tubing with the ball glued shut. I know how it happened, I dumped ground coffee in the water tank at least once in some brain fart.

Anyway, I fixed the machine and decided to try the espresso side for a while. 4 cups of espresso make one nice big mug of strong coffee - I guess I will use the left side exclusively for 4 years now

My coffee of choice is German Tschibo - different roast than the American one and it really agrees with me, let me tell you. Coffee is a great part of life, I even gave it up for lent this year and it was tough.

 

[dcyrilc]

Just saw on the news night before last that a guy here in the Seattle area is growing coffee.

Meet the 'Juan Valdez' of Western Washington | KING5.com | Seattle Business and Technology News

 

[milkman]

I got hooked on Tim Horton's when I was running to Canada from '97 to '02 and have been drinking it ever since. My wife orders it by the case, the fine grind, but I also regrind about half a pound at a time as I need it. I've tried the press for a couple of months and liked it ok till the glass got cracked and went back to the Mr Coffee maker. Now I just need to find a source for their multi grain bagel and cream cheese. Not necessarily a coffee snob, but I found what I like and I'm sticking with it.

 

[outinthetalgrass]

Coffee with chicory (aka New Orleans Blend) has always been the top selling blend in Southeast Louisiana. Many different companies make it and French Market Coffee is my usual brand.

With the advent of Starbucks and other large national franchises, less people are drinking coffee with chicory than before but it will still be a standard in New Orleans for years to come.

Go to your local Flying J truck stop... they serve coffee with chicory... let me tell you after a hour on the warmer that sh#$ can get out of the pot and walk itself over to your cup. ( but it will wake you up in the am):thumbsup:

I am a coffee *****.. fresh coffee, anytime any way, doesnt matter the roast or blend, if its fresh I drink it all day, all night (even iced coffee instead of iced tea in the summer).
There are guys that I work with that won't touch it after 10am or they cant sleep at night.

 

[forgeblast]

I have a coffee plant growing, i bought it from a seed company (cant remember which one). its growing great, survived the winter near the woodstove and is doing very well. Ill move it outside soon. Once i get beans from it i can roast them in my toster oven and then blender them.

 

[ragkar]

A coffee snob!
Is it snobbery to quietly gloat that I can get much better single source coffee beans than any blend sold in my supermarket? And at a lot cheaper price.
Is it snobbery to rejoice that my beans are never more than seven days since roast and three minutes since grind?
Is it snobbery to have clean brewing pots and filters rather than pots washed once a week?
Is it snobbery to use a better brewing method than Starbucks or dunkin donuts uses?
Is it snobbery to make a cup of coffee that is better tasting than in Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts and at a much cheaper cost.
Okay then, I'm a coffee snob.

By the way, the common civet is a weasle like native of the far east. In vietnam they call it squirrels. The civet eats the coffee cherry and can't digest the seed (coffee bean) which passes through its system. The beans are sorted, examined and cleaned and sold as Kopi Luwak in Indonesia. World production is 200 pounds per year and the majority of which is sold in Japan.
I've only brewed it once and found that it had an intense earthy taste with overtones of chocolate that occur in the back of my tongue. Very good. I now have only 425 grams left.

Don't get me started on espresso.

 

[RobertN]

That is funny.

Those commercials for pills to treat "Restless Leg Syndrome" came out. As soon as they did, I had restless legs.. Power of suggestion. I quit drinking coffee after 1300. Went away. Curse those commercials!

There are guys that I work with that won't touch it after 10am or they cant sleep at night.

 

[ragkar]

I made a double espresso last night and ..
it was really quite tasty except I should have used eighteen grams of coffee instead of seventeen grams and it should have been ground about one-half click finer in a grinder with flat burrs and the humidity in the kitchen was about three percent higher than the day before and the flavor balance was a little too far toward bitter and was lacking some of the chocolate taste and fruity overtones I like and I noticed that the creme was about three millimeters thinner than last Monday but the pull would have made a great ristretto if I had stopped at twenty-three seconds instead of going to twenty-seven seconds since the crema wasn't a rusty-colored as it should be and the water temperature was about one half of a degree too hot at the beginning of the pull and about a degree too cool at the end of the pull but stability was good in the middle thanks to me PiD control and possibly it would have been tastier if I had brewed it in my press pot or my vacuum brewer but I should have taken that Sumatran Mandheling in my home-roasted blend about six clicks further into second crack and maybe it should have been post-roast blended and I think that three days rest is a little too long for this blend because of the dark-roasted Yemen Mocha I use and I'm going to tamp to thirty-two pounds instead of thirty-three pounds with my next double shot because that worked well last week and maybe I should try one of those stainless steel convex tampers instead of my flat aluminum tamper and I really need to get a triple basket and I think it's time that I move up to a rotary pump model or at least one with a heat exchanger although I have had my eye on a new four-group commercial machine for some time now. but seriously, other than that I was the best espresso I've ever had!
If you think I'm obsessed, you should meet the rest of the group in alt.coffee.

 

[tallyho8]

I made a double espresso last night and ..
it was really quite tasty except I should have used eighteen grams of coffee instead of seventeen grams and it should have been ground about one-half click finer in a grinder with flat burrs and the humidity in the kitchen was about three percent higher than the day before and the flavor balance was a little too far toward bitter and was lacking some of the chocolate taste and fruity overtones I like and I noticed that the creme was about three millimeters thinner than last Monday but the pull would have made a great ristretto if I had stopped at twenty-three seconds instead of going to twenty-seven seconds since the crema wasn't a rusty-colored as it should be and the water temperature was about one half of a degree too hot at the beginning of the pull and about a degree too cool at the end of the pull but stability was good in the middle thanks to me PiD control and possibly it would have been tastier if I had brewed it in my press pot or my vacuum brewer but I should have taken that Sumatran Mandheling in my home-roasted blend about six clicks further into second crack and maybe it should have been post-roast blended and I think that three days rest is a little too long for this blend because of the dark-roasted Yemen Mocha I use and I'm going to tamp to thirty-two pounds instead of thirty-three pounds with my next double shot because that worked well last week and maybe I should try one of those stainless steel convex tampers instead of my flat aluminum tamper and I really need to get a triple basket and I think it's time that I move up to a rotary pump model or at least one with a heat exchanger although I have had my eye on a new four-group commercial machine for some time now. but seriously, other than that I was the best espresso I've ever had!
If you think I'm obsessed, you should meet the rest of the group in alt.coffee.

WHEW!!!!
I've learned that if you can't read an entire sentence without stopping for a coffee break, then that sentence needs some periods in it.

 

[Chuck52]

I made a double espresso last night and ..
it was really quite tasty except I should have used eighteen grams of coffee instead of seventeen grams and it should have been ground about one-half click finer in a grinder with flat burrs and the humidity in the kitchen was about three percent higher than the day before and the flavor balance was a little too far toward bitter and was lacking some of the chocolate taste and fruity overtones I like and I noticed that the creme was about three millimeters thinner than last Monday but the pull would have made a great ristretto if I had stopped at twenty-three seconds instead of going to twenty-seven seconds since the crema wasn't a rusty-colored as it should be and the water temperature was about one half of a degree too hot at the beginning of the pull and about a degree too cool at the end of the pull but stability was good in the middle thanks to me PiD control and possibly it would have been tastier if I had brewed it in my press pot or my vacuum brewer but I should have taken that Sumatran Mandheling in my home-roasted blend about six clicks further into second crack and maybe it should have been post-roast blended and I think that three days rest is a little too long for this blend because of the dark-roasted Yemen Mocha I use and I'm going to tamp to thirty-two pounds instead of thirty-three pounds with my next double shot because that worked well last week and maybe I should try one of those stainless steel convex tampers instead of my flat aluminum tamper and I really need to get a triple basket and I think it's time that I move up to a rotary pump model or at least one with a heat exchanger although I have had my eye on a new four-group commercial machine for some time now. but seriously, other than that I was the best espresso I've ever had!
If you think I'm obsessed, you should meet the rest of the group in alt.coffee.

WOW! Seriously dude, start thinking of reducing your caffeine intake!

Chuck

 

[dmccarty]

Years ago I would get fresh coffee beans from a local market and grind it. Usually Costa Rican, Guatamalan, or Kenyan. The problem was that the store was not very consistent in getting a supply nor was the coffee itself consistent.

So I joined THAT coffee club. Which was good for a few years. The price was comparable and quality consistent. Got really hooked on Kona.

Then the club got expensive and quality went downhill....

Started drinking Folgers Gourmet. :laughing: Been drinking it for years. :licking: Price is right too! :thumbsup:

I bought an expensive Cuisinart coffee maker years ago when my old one finally died. At the time the Cuisinart was the only one with a metal coffee pot. This thing will grind the beans for you and brew the coffee when the timer goes off. :confused2: I gave up grinding coffee years ago so I never used that feature. Just wanted the stupid metal coffee pot.

The Cuisinart makes good coffee. The coffee maker does make a difference. Over the years I have taken my coffee, sugar, and WATER on vacation to make coffee. And it does not take like home. The only difference is the coffee maker. Next vacation the Cuisinart goes with us. :laughing: Usually on vacation I drink what they serve at the resort eatery but next trip the restaurant does not open early enough for me so I have to make the coffee in the room.

I hear the presses are the way to make great coffee but I don't have that much time in the morning to be messing with creating a perfect cup of joe. I get the coffee maker loaded with coffee, sugar, and water then press the go button. :laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[om21braz]

+1 on dmccarty's reply - I think a really good cup of coffee can be made with fresh,decent coffee and a good coffee maker.